I never read much of GCPD, most of my knowledge about it is Wiki fueled. But since the holiday season is coming, and I always get comic shop gift certificates for that or my birthday, which is 12/30, I should probably be able to rectify that by the end of the year-ish.

I just always have big plans to do a big test/storyline in Gotham and I never, ever get around to it because I like building so much. But at least if I ever do, I'll have all the NPCs in place.

I do have a couple of tests in process, so we'll see if I ever get around to finishing and posting them.

COMPLICATIONS:Power Loss: The Talons' regenerative abilities are derived from a special electrum serum. If denied of it when incapacitated, the Talon's regenerative powers cease to functionResponsibility: To serve the Court of OwlsRivalry: Nightwing and BatmanVulnerable: Talons are vulnerable to cold effects. They are impaired in all checks against cold based effects and they take an extra degree of failure against. It also halts their regenerative abilities

Comments: William Cobb is allegedly the Court's top Talon, a vicious killer that is over 110 years old, but due to the enhancements given to him by the Court, he remains in his prime. He was able to hang with Batman one on one for a while, but then, even half dead, Batman took him out down so I had him at PL10. But then again, he pwned Nightwing, so PL11 felt about right in the end.

COMPLICATIONS:Disability: Mary is mutePower Loss: The Talons' regenerative abilities are derived from a special electrum serum. If denied of it when incapacitated, the Talon's regenerative powers cease to functionResponsibility: To serve the Court of Owls
[Vulnerable: Talons are vulnerable to cold effects. They are impaired in all checks against cold based effects and they take an extra degree of failure against. It also halts their regenerative abilities

Comments: Mary is the only female Talon that has been given a name (at least that I have read) and she starts out as the personal nemesis for the Gordon family. She was sent to make sure Jim Gordon didn’t interfere with the Court’s plans on the Night of the Owls and she also ended up fighting Batgirl and looking pretty impressive when doing it. It was revealed during their fight that Mary’s family was killed by an explosive attack from the Japanese in WWII that left her mute. She ended up getting recruited by the Court and becoming a Talon. However, she showed a merciful side at the end of the fight, as many of the Talons have shown during the arc, so it was hard not to feel for her.

Batgirl eventually defeated her (and in game terms, burns some HP to do it) and she was incarcerated. Since the Court is now being shown to still have some fight left in them after it appeared that Batman took them out, she broken out of jail by Catwoman, who of course did it for the paycheck. But much like the other Talon she faced, Selena realized that Mary was as much of a victim as anything and they bonded during their escape.

When her employer turned on her it ended up with Batgirl helping Catwoman fight Mary and two other Talons. In the end, the Mary chose to help the Cat and the Bat. Batgirl helped her escape when the cops showed up, so now it appears that she will be a new member of the Birds of Prey, or at least hanging around them for a bit. Should be interesting.

The great thing about the Court of Owls arc is how Snyder did a wonderful job of making some of the Talons sympathetic and some of them into the monsters they were trained to be. Some of the Talons were just kids taken away from their families and tortured into becoming the master assassins the Court wanted. The Court itself was heinous but he made you feel for some of the Talons who were every bit the victim as many of the people they murdered. Can’t say enough about that arc, if you haven’t noticed, and I hope to Thor that Snyder does as masterful of a job with Superman as he’s done with Batman.

Valiantheart wrote:Good builds. I really liked your Kal-El build. I just don't understand why the source books left off things like his regeneration.

Thanks, Valiant. I just write that off to everyone building a little differently. And I like building my own heroes in my own style, so I do. As I've stated before, I think the DCA core builds are great overall, but I can't help building my faves.

COMPLICATIONS:Power Loss: The Talons' regenerative abilities are derived from a special electrum serum. If denied of it when incapacitated, the Talon's regenerative powers cease to functionResponsibility: To serve the Court of OwlsVulnerable: Talons are vulnerable to cold effects. They are impaired in all checks against cold based effects and they take an extra degree of failure against them. It also halts their regenerative abilities

Comments: Henry Ballard was the Talon that tangled with the Birds of Prey during Night of the Owls. He was apparently the Talon of 1847 and remembered Gotham as a violent place. Apparently he still sees it that way as he felt the need to rid the streets of the “strumpets” in Birds of Prey.

Anyway, he was bad ass. He had Katana, Black Canary and Starling all on the ropes until Batgirl saved them. And even then, it took all of them and Poison Ivy to take him down for good. The thing I liked about him was that he didn't use the blades and weaponry that the other Talons have done, even though I gave them to him for consistency. He was all bare handed brawlin' and he took a ton of damage so I made him even tougher than Cobb and even gave him Withstand Damage since he took a full on Canary Cry and just popped back up.

Valiantheart wrote:Good builds. I really liked your Kal-El build. I just don't understand why the source books left off things like his regeneration.

My philosophy is to only include those abilities that the character uses frequently, at least one issue in six for comics or every episode or two for television. With most comic book characters having at least a decade of publication, usually more, and with Superman 74 years of uninterupted publication... yeah, a lot needs to get left out.

I honestly didn't even know he had Regeneration amongst his suite of powers... and I'm hardly a casual fan.

Valiantheart wrote:Good builds. I really liked your Kal-El build. I just don't understand why the source books left off things like his regeneration.

My philosophy is to only include those abilities that the character uses frequently, at least one issue in six for comics or every episode or two for television. With most comic book characters having at least a decade of publication, usually more, and with Superman 74 years of uninterupted publication... yeah, a lot needs to get left out.

I honestly didn't even know he had Regeneration amongst his suite of powers... and I'm hardly a casual fan.

It's pretty inconsistently shown, but it's referenced in the Wikis all the time and in the Batman/Superman book from a few years back, when Metallo shot him with a Kryptonite bullet, Batman and Alfred had a hard time because he started healing around the entry wound before they could work on getting the bullet out.

It's probably better handled as Healing, limited to self because generally it comes into play when he flies up to store some solar energy, but it only makes sense that Kryptonians would heal faster than normal given their makeup.

It was even shown in the last movie after he was beaten and stabbed. He flew up to the sun to heal up before performing his final labor.

I wouldn't say its shown every 6 comics as you mentioned but it usually comes up once a year or every other year. Usually when Clark has taken a serious beating.

It could be interpreted as very rapid out of combat healing I suppose, but he heals incredibly fast.

I think this is one of the abilities that gives him a general edge over other flying bricks in his weight class (The Marvels) even if he might lose to them 1v1 due to the magic.

Per the official DC wiki:
Healing Factor: In the extreme event that Superman is harmed, either by an alien matching his own strength or other occurrence, he has been shown to have the ability to heal almost instantaneously from any wound, assuming that the process is not impeded from some outside factor i.e. Kryptonite. This "healing factor" is supplemented by his stores of solar energy and also seems to be an unconscious ability, as Superman does not seem to have the ability to control when he heals and when he doesn't. Much like a human has no control over their immune system.

Batgirl III wrote:Oh, I'm aware of his "Act III" rspid healing in major story arcs, but due to its infrequent use I would treat it like a Power Stunt. I love that about this system.

I could certainly see that. I'll take a look at the mechanic because I have been looking at my Kryptonians as I prepare to work on New 52 Superboy (and some pre-New 52 Kryptonians) so I might make some changes. But I'll probably leave at least some sort of Healing mechanic for them.

Well, the holiday season is upon us (Happy Diwali to those that celebrate!) and sometimes that actually tends to bring people down. The practical skipping of Thanksgiving in the eyes of some people, the commercialization of Christmas and the lack of exposure of other holidays that aren't Christmas can be taxing on the spirits. But that's not what we're about here at J-Mart. We are about celebrating the true reason for all the end of year holidays:

FANSERVICE!

So without further, let's kick off another edition of the greatest J-Mart Tradition, LADIES' NIGHT! Check out this new item for Aisle 2!

Yes, the war's over. And you lost! And still I went along with you. But you know what, Luke? You gave it a shot and -- and it didn't work! We're not safe! We never were. - Jessica Jones

COMPLICATIONS:Accident: Jessica is still working on learning how to use her powers which can cause accidents to occur either in using too much strength or flying out of controlEnemy: Norman Osborn, The Purple ManGuilt: She still has guilt about her time spent under The Purple Man's controlRelationships: Her husband Luke Cage and she is fiercely protective of their daughter, Danielle Cage. She is also close friends with Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel), Jessica Drew (Spider Woman) and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl)

Comments: Jessica Jones-Cage has had an interesting career in Marvel comics. From clumsy superheroine, to chain-smoking private detective, to mind controlled minion of The Purple Man (what a lame name, WHY did they just not go with Zebediah Killgrave, his real name which is far more menacing as Jabroniville mentioned on his thread?) to ace reporter to the woman who tamed Luke Cage and had his baby. Most recently she was part of the New Avengers with Squirrel Girl as her nanny. Fun stuff.

As noted earlier on his build, Luke Cage is part of the new The Outsiders team in my main Thorpacoverse setting, so Jess helps them out from time to time. But she also spends time with the Justice League/Avengers teams mainly to hang out with Carol Danvers and Jessica Drew, her best friends. She is also tight with Barbara Gordon whom she assisted during her Jewel days on a couple of cases.

It should also be noted that I am about add a few settings to the Thorpacoverse so I can have some fun with different takes on characters in my combined setting. BGIII has inspired me to take my setting building more seriously, so look for that in the coming weeks. But for now, it's on with the LADIES...

COMPLICATIONS:Power Loss: Divine loses her powers and her Str and Sta are reduced to 1 under a red sun, like that of Krypton, and other effects draining or interfering with the energies of the yellow sun can deprive her of her powersResponsibility: She is honor bound to her creators to take out her genetic benefactor, Power GirlVulnerable: Divine Superman is as vulnerable to magic as anyone else. Her Toughness is not Impervious against magical attacks and she loses her ranks of Protection against magical attacksWeakness: Earth-218 Kryptonite...Its radiation saps the Strength and powers of Kryptonians, leaving them impaired, disabled, and eventually debilitated in terms of Strength and power effects. Long-term exposure (usually a matter of minutes, less for a large enough amount) imposes the dying condition and may lead to death

Comments: Divine is a clone of Power Girl created by Dr. Sivana and Maxwell Lord who, of course, rumbled with PG a couple of times in recent solo book just prior to the New 52. She hasn’t been seen since, and I doubt she shows up in the New 52 anytime soon, but come on, a dark haired, bikini top wearing Power Girl? If you thought I wasn’t statting her, you’re CRAZY.

By golly, I think this even calls for another pic!

Giggity, giggity...just...Giggity, giggity...

Clean Up 6/9/13: Still had a few clean ups to do to my paragons after the recent Paragons R Us run, so Divine gets made equal to her genetic benefactor, Power Girl.

Last edited by Thorpacolypse on Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

COMPLICATIONS:Fame: As an original member of Youngblood, she is well known for being a government sponsored heroFame: She is also a well-known fashion model and cosmetics designerRelationships: Her mother and her brother

Comments: Vogue was Russian supermodel and cosmetics designer turned merc. She was Youngblood’s close combat and stealth specialist along with being eye candy. Apparently she got super strength and such in a later adventure, but I didn’t put that in the build here.

In the main Thorpacoverse, she is a reserve member of Stormwatch Black.